Seth tugged on her arm. With a coaxing hand, he pulled her down the gangway and stopped at the fork, that point where the path split between the two starwings. "You be careful."
"Don’t worry about me," she said. "Let me worry about you."
"I can’t help myself." He smirked, gave her a salute for luck, and walked toward his starwing.
He gripped hard on the handrails as the Protector rocked back and forth. Noticing that the main fueling hose was pulling away from the fuel Regulator, he quickly slid into his cockpit. Fueling was one of the last operations before takeoff, and he guessed that Eamonn’s patience was probably weighing thin. He settled in and glanced at Chloe. She had already slipped into her starwing on the near side of the ship. She waved to him and smiled as her canopy lowered.
Technicians locked the canopies in place and pulled back the access ladders for takeoff. The Protector was in final preparation, and the yellow warning lights turned to green, signaling everyone to clear the hangar bay.
On the main bridge of the Protector, Eamonn scanned the final checks. "Gwen, have you connected to the tower?"
"Uplink established, sir. Lunara Communications Control reads us loud and clear. All systems go here."
He turned toward Jan, who was in the pilot’s seat. "Navigation ready?"
Jan held her hand up for a few moments, then lowered it as she finished her checks. "Uplink to navigation tracking satellites established. Coordinates in. Navigation—all systems go."
He switched on his radio receiver. "Are the starwings ready?"
Seth fastened the last of his air valves and electrical cords into his helmet and powered up the three-dimensional display screen attached to his visor. He twisted and turned his head; the display followed his movements, giving him plenty of extra data on the status of the ship and the area around it. He scanned his onboard sensor screen. Satisfied with the results, he flipped on his radio. "Display helmet is fully functional. Fuel and air supply read at maximum levels. Resonance charges are loaded. Starwing Alpha is a go."
"What about Chloe?" Eamonn radioed, his tone sharpening. "Come on."
Chloe turned her helmet on and began fiddling with the energy control switches on her right-hand control joystick. She flicked her finger onto the fuel readout gauge. Her tanks were partly full. She urged them to fill faster.
She switched on her radio to reply to Eamonn’s requests. "Display helmet is fully functional. Fuel and air at moderate levels. I am waiting for full tanks. Give me a few minutes."
"Get a move on, Chloe. What’s taking so long?"
She flipped on her alert screen, and the problem was revealed: the second relay pump had malfunctioned. The primary was pumping twice the normal amount. She throttled the fueling tank back and allowed it to catch up with the weight pushing into her starwing.
She turned on her comm. "One of the pumps from the fuel tanker malfunctioned. The primary is only working at half capacity. Do checks on the rear and get back to me in the meantime."
"I read you. Rear compartment, are you ready?"
Parker, seated at the front of the rear compartment at the salvaging controls, made sure all the technical readings were within acceptable levels. He checked down his preflight list and confirmed the levels were okay.
To him, the Protector could handle more stress than a normal ship its size. He had redesigned the systems to take the force of top-speed turns and heavyweight towing. He believed a meteor run required agility and power, but Mars had its rules. and they checked flight logs at the quarterly review, so he was limited in what he could accomplish.
The computer returned its reading with all green lights, confirmation that all the systems were ready in the engine compartment. "Netting alignment complete, power levels acceptable, reel lines are secure. All systems go here," he read over the radio.
"What about the netting?" Eamonn said.
Parker cycled hand over hand, urging Roche to load the node quicker. "The netting will be ready in a minute, sir. Otherwise, we are all systems go."
"I’m almost finished," Roche called out.
Parker nodded.
"Make sure its ready before Lunara is out of sight," Eamonn replied.
"Yes, Captain."
"Starwing Omega, are your systems ready to go? Chloe?" Eamonn said.
"Fuel and air are at maximum levels. Charges are set. Starwing Omega is all systems go," Chloe replied into the radio.
The crew’s speed pleased Eamonn. They were three minutes ahead of schedule. He completed the final checks on the list and closed the screen. "Flight log, all systems checked out. Green to go. Jan, take us out of here."
"Take off commencing in thirty seconds. Let’s come back in one piece."
All the technicians scurried out of the hangar bay, securing the air locks along the way. The main doors opened to reveal the emptiness of space. Goose bumps moved up Eamonn’s arm as the stars appeared through the doorway. He was ready to fly.
The tower chirped a communication alert. Gwen opened the channel, and a voice came over the bridge speaker: "Protector, this is Officer Grove in Lunara Communications Control. I have received word from Flight Control, and you have permission to take off."
"Communications Control, for the record and the flight log, this is Communications Officer Gwen Arwell aboard the Protector. Flight crew aboard, and we are ready for departure. We’ll be taking off momentarily."
"I read you."
The decompression of the hangar rocked the Protector. The antigravity thrusters fired, forcing the Protector off the deck.
"Hold on," a different voice spoke. "Protector. Stand down."
"Who is this?" he said.
"Dr. Hans Bauer. You will return Seth Smith and Chloe Jones to the flight deck. They are no longer in active duty status. Mars Central sent the orders moments ago. They are required to submit to their physical."
"Captain," Seth said. "This is ridiculous. There is no time."
Eamonn sensed some panic in Seth’s voice. "Seth. Quiet." He turned to Gwen. "Mute him."
"Captain Dalton," Atalo said, "the orders check out. I’m afraid we can’t let you leave."
"What does the chief say?" Eamonn asked.
Jan gave him an odd glance. She wanted to go, but she knew that he couldn’t disregard orders from Mars Central or he would lose the Protector.
"Chief Falloom has no authority here," Bauer said. "Disembark Seth Smith and Chloe Jones immediately."
Eamonn looked at Gwen, who muted the transmission. "Ideas?"
"You can’t disobey orders," Gwen said.
"The hell he can’t," Jan said. "Seth and Chloe are in trouble."
He rubbed the scar on his forehead. "I can’t. Gwen is right. I’ll lose the Protector."
Jan bristled. "You realize this delay will cause us to miss the meteor. We have to land, get the backups, and then take off again."
"I know," he said. "I’m not happy about it either, but we have no choice."
"Wait a sec," Gwen said. "We are hovering."
"So?" Jan said.
Gwen smirked. "This is why I am the diplomat and negotiator."
"What is it, Gwen?" Eamonn pressed her.
"You can’t make someone inactive during a mission unless it is mission related," she said. "We’ve taken off, so the mission has started, and the order is not mission related."
"Therefore, Seth and Chloe are active until the mission is over!" Jan yelled.
"Get Bauer and Atalo back," Eamonn said.
Gwen nodded and flipped the switch.
"Atalo. We have liftoff. Our mission is underway. We are clearing through the hangar toward our target."
"Captain, I would advise against this," Bauer said. "The orders are clear. I will report this to Mars Central."
"Their mission has takeoff," Atalo replied. "You’ll have to wait for their return. Permission granted, Protector."
Eamonn let out a long sigh. Atalo had recognized the ploy and played his hand perfectly.
/>
Jan pushed the Protector through the mouth of the door. The hangar shook in the engines’ wake.
Once clear, the blue exhaust from the ion drive lit up. The Protector surged forward, circled around toward the horizon of the Earth, accelerated to an astonishing rate, and sped away from the colony. Eamonn was already thinking about the report he would have to file when they returned—a long, convoluted report.
Chapter 7
As the Protector neared the projected impact site of the meteor, it slowed into a high orbit. Besides the Earth, which loomed only a few hundred kilometers below, nothing else of importance was visible. All the Earth satellites that had once orbited were gone, replaced with Martian trackers, and without the moon or the sun, the dark side was unspectacular.
On the bridge, in front of Eamonn, the display panels relayed the final calculations on the trajectory and impact location for the incoming meteor.
"We are here, sir," Jan said. "The meteor will hit in twenty-seven minutes, forty-one seconds. I’m relaying the data to the starwings now."
He flipped on his comm unit. "You heard her, Seth and Chloe. We need those resonance charges attached and ready for detonation in twenty-five."
"Detaching now," Chloe said.
The latches of the starwing unclasped from the hull, and the entire ship echoed with the clang of it. The starwing’s thrusters moved to a safe distance. She tapped her fingers along the controls as her panel popped one green light after another. To her relief, none displayed a red alert.
"Chloe," Seth radioed. "Are you ready to head out? My engines are all green to go."
"Green to go," she said.
"Follow me."
She matched his acceleration and followed close behind as he veered the ship toward the target path of the meteor. She squeezed the accelerator to full. Her starwing forced her back deep into her seat and sped off into space.
Eamonn turned his attention to the next task. "Parker, have Roche get that netting ready to catch the debris. I don’t want to even miss a kilogram."
"No problem, sir. We will have it set up shortly," Parker replied over the radio.
"I’m sending you the coordinates for your setup location now," Jan added.
"Thanks, I got them. Switch the ship’s controls over to the netting deployment system."
"Affirmative, I am switching to you guys." She called up the systems control screen and entered her passcode. The controls locked out and transferred to the rear compartment.
"We have control now," Parker said. "Sit back and enjoy the show."
Parker aligned the last of the nodes in the deployment bay. He checked over his calculations on his handheld display pad. All nodes were in normal parameters. He signed off on his checklist and gave instructions to commence with the deployment.
He swung the ship around so the rear faced away from the Earth toward the incoming meteor. The back compartment unlatched, and the nodes began to release. He carefully maneuvered to align each node into the proper place, with great precision. He aligned them perfectly, knowing that even the smallest hole would compromise the integrity of the electromagnetic field, leaving holes for the meteor to escape. The netting slowly took the form of a honeycombed-shape grid. He ran a triple calculation check, which was standard for all deployments, and checks indicated the net was within proper limits. He turned on the ship’s autopilot systems and plotted the coordinates to maintain an orbit that kept the netting aligned with the impact site.
He radioed back to the cockpit. "We are ready down here."
The meteor flaunted its one large crevasse and many small craters as they approached.
Chloe turned on her infrared and ultraviolet scanners.
"Looks like a routine one," Seth said. "No sharp drops in elevation are present. Set the charges on half strength in a cone pattern so the blast doesn’t send the debris all over the captain’s windshield. I’m sending you the coordinates for your charge."
"Coordinates received." She made minor adjustments to her blast pattern and locked the charge into a ready state. "Ready."
"Let’s make this as routine as possible."
The meteor bisected them. They yanked hard on their control sticks and performed a large circular loop. The blood seemed to drain from Chloe’s head, and she grunted to clear her mind. Straightening out of a curve and throttling to maximum speed, the starwings caught the meteor with a single burst.
As Chloe glanced up at a view of the Earth, a small gray ball floated in her viewscreen, growing with each passing second. Sweat pooled against her forehead. She had never been this close to the Earth on a run.
She switched off her scanning sensors and turned on her proximity detection viewscreen. In her visor’s display, the meteor’s surface was tumbling only a hundred meters from the bottom of Seth’s ship. She gripped hard on the control stick to steady her ship as Seth moved down toward the surface of the meteor.
"One hundred meters . . . seventy-five meters . . . overlaying targeting systems, extending resonance charge launching bay," he said. "I am at a distance of fifty meters. Firing . . . now."
Her helmet visor flashed red; her indication that the charge had exited his ship. The charge tore into the surface of the meteor, kicking up small debris off the bottom of his ship. After a few tedious seconds, the visor display relayed confirmation of success.
Seth pulled back from the meteor.
"Starwing Alpha’s charge has been delivered. I am at a safe distance. Proceed when you are ready."
She took in a deep breath; it was her turn now.
"Starwing Omega moving into position." She pushed forward on her control stick to accelerate to a point where she was hovering over her assigned coordinates. She flipped on her proximity detection viewscreen.
"One-hundred-fifty meters . . . one hundred meters . . . seventy-five meters. I am overlaying the targeting systems, extending the resonance-charge launching bay. Coming into position . . . preparing the charges for release." Her mouth was dry, and she forced her tongue along her lips. Her eyes moved to focus on her visor display. The target was almost there. She double-checked all the calculations. "I’m firing." She pressed both of her fire control buttons simultaneously.
The charge bit hard into the surface of the meteor and began to drill down.
Without warning, a chunk of debris, large and metallic, clipped her wing. She caught only a glimpse of it out of her peripheral camera. The jolt caused her starwing to tumble to the right. She struggled with the control sticks to stabilize the ship as alarms bellowed in the cockpit, and her visor flashed red.
"Jinx, I hit a hollowing."
Seth radioed, "Chloe, you have to cut the charge stabilizers and use emergency thrusters. Do it now!"
She switched off her weapons stabilizers and fought her stick for control. Her starwing swerved back and forth, yawing away from the meteor. She shifted her lateral rockets in parallel with one another and fired them. The counterbalance effect stopped the swerving, and she leveled off. She fired her main engines again to catch the meteor.
"I got her stabilized again."
On the Protector's bridge, Eamonn read the meteor data relayed from the starwings. Success was close.
Jan turned to Eamonn and yelled, "Captain, two minutes and thirty seconds until impact!"
"I see it!" He shook his head. Chloe needed to move faster. He flipped open his radio channel. "Chloe. Time is two-twenty."
"No, Captain," Seth radioed. "I am moving in. Her ship is damaged."
"Negative Alpha. Omega is still in position to set the charge. She’ll go again—no time for a position transfer."
"Seth," Chloe said as calmly as she could, "I got this one. Don’t worry about me."
The sun peeked over the Earth, filling Chloe’s cabin with a bright, blinding light. As the tint spread across her windshield, she glanced out the front of the cockpit and the all-too-real view of the Earth came closer. She once again flipped on her visor’s proximity detection screen a
nd proceeded to move down toward the meteor for another run. The sweat from her forehead entered her eyes and she squinted.
"This one is all you," Seth said. Reluctance and dread was in his voice, which didn’t give her a lot of confidence, considering the situation.
"Get a move on," Eamonn said. "We have about two minutes before we can’t detonate the charges. If you can’t get them laid, the Protector will be buried into the Earth’s surface."
"Don’t worry, Captain. All I need is one. One hundred meters . . . seventy-five meters." As she activated her weapons systems, her visor’s display alerted her to a physical malfunction in her launch barrel. "Jinx, looks like a piece of the meteor hit my primary. I’m switching to secondary."
"Hurry," Eamonn said. "You need to get within twenty-five meters for secondary weapons, Chloe. Time is running out."
"I know!" she radioed back.
Her ship raced alongside the meteor. She inched closer, and from the Protector's view, they seemed almost to be touching, but the space between her and the meteor was enough. She was safe.
Her cockpit was aglow with a grayish-white luminous light. She peeked out the window; the large sphere that was the Earth, behind the electromagnetic netting, was fast approaching. She gripped harder on the control sticks. Sweat appeared between her fingers. You have to do this, she thought. Seth can’t bail you out this time.
"Thirty seconds until we can’t detonate on time," Jan said. "The charge takes ten seconds to dig."
"I got it, Jan . . . thirty meters . . . twenty-five meters." She wished herself luck. "Firing now."
Her helmet visor flashed red as the charge fired toward the meteor. It hit the surface hard but this time hit solid rock and chewed down into it. She received confirmation and let out a small sigh of satisfaction with her next breath.
"All charges set and ready for detonation!" Jan exclaimed.
"Detonate it now!" Eamonn shouted. "Chloe, get out!"
Gwen’s gasp sounded over the radio.
Chloe yanked her starwing with a brilliant turn upward.
Lunara: The Original Trilogy Page 5